Pedicab (Rickshaw):
Taxis Without An Attitude

Hardly forming a tidal wave of clean, quiet, collective transportation, pedicabs
(a.k.a. rickshaws, trishaws, cyclos, triciclos, cycle-rickshaws, bike-taxis,
becaks, sidecars, sai kaa, san lun che, jinrikisha, human powered taxis) have
found their way into the travel mix of a number of communities. For those who would like
to introduce them in their hometowns we have collected a little information about the
industry.

At the University of Oregon there is a service that uses tandem and triplet bikes to
escort people at night ("Tandem Taxi"). This is a free service operating
out of the University's Public Safety Dept.

Most of the other pedicab businesses, outside of developing nations, are seasonal.
Following the pattern of the tourist trade and special events.

Rickshaw and Pedicab Bans Unfortunately there have been numerous bans on
rickshaws and Pedicab. Some of the major bans have been in Dhaka, Bangladesh,
several cities in
India and Jakarta, Indonesia. Each has a severe impact on the livelihoods they
destroy and the environments the force to be more carbon dependent. An
Internet search will lead to more information on these atrocities. It has
been a long and heat issue in Dhaka. A couple of posting are:

There is quite a bite of variation in the structure of pedicab companies. We
don't know of any study that has catalogued the variations. In generally,
the company owners generate revenue by selling advertising space on the vehicles
and renting them to drivers. The owners advertise the business and
administer/coordinate any central dispatching. A common structure is for
the drivers to pay a daily fee (rent) for the use of the pedicab. The drivers
generate income by selling their transportation and supplemental services
(concierge, city guide, entertainment, etc.) In some communities licenses
are required for the vehicles and/or the drivers. Business licenses and
insurance coverage can also be required. Check with the local
jurisdictions for the specifics of local ordinances.

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